I'll yield my house only to my garbage man, damn you!
There’s a house in NoPo asking $1.495 that may or may not be worth that much but regardless, the owners rejected out of hand my client’s offer of $1.1. Fair enough, and if the seller thought he could get a better deal, God bless him. But God had better move fast.
I already knew that his mortgage was being foreclosed on – it’s what attracted my attention in the first place, like blood in the water to a shark – but I didn’t realize until today that other creditors have piled on. On the land records now we see new liens, including the Connecticut tax authority, the friendly folks at the IRS and even the local garbage man. My advice to strapped sellers is, when you can’t pay your trashman, let alone the IRS, try at least countering “low” offers and see if you can’t get out of trouble.
How could you be so insensitive. Such a lowball offer obviously insulted the sellers delicate sensibilities. Better the shame of bankruptcy and foreclosure than bruised feelings.
Surely when the seller comes back a week before the bank takes over, now willing to dicker on your earlier offer, in the interests of fair play you won’t lowball him further…surely.
In fact, tipped off by readers of this blog to its existence, we moved on to a bank owned property in Sopo Riverside and are in contract for a far better location for less money. I do prefer dealing with banks – no emotion, just business, but the next time I throw a life preserver to a drowning homeowner, I’ll ring it with flowers and chocolate first.
Chris-
Are there any risks to a buyer who gets a house with such a tangled legal history?
No KC – your lawyer and title company will make sure everything is cleared up at closing or there’s no deal. The opportunity here for buyers is that you (well, your agent, if he knows anything about the process) can negotiate a package deal with all the creditors where everybody takes a haircut but gets something, you the buyer get a great deal and the seller – well, someone has to lose on these things, but he’s already lost before you appeared on the scene.
That’s why Fudrucker and I are scouring land records – the messier the debt situation, the more creditors there are, the more likely it’s possible to do a deal. We’re in the process, for instance, of getting a package together of three properties, one buried builder and four creditors. If we’re successful – and every indication is that we will be – we’ll have three houses ready to sell at really low prices and the lender side will already be wrapped up. I’m looking forward to a busy two months, in fact, despite the official MLS market slumping into holiday mode.
Or I won’t – you can’t tell with these things, and all my high hopes and expectations may come to naught. But that’s how I’m approaching this market and, so far – don’t tell Walt -it seems to be working better than any conventional method.
How the hell does a garbage man qualify for a mechanic’s lien?
That’s a joke, right?
I’d guess that he supplied dumpsters for their renovation and wasn’t paid.
That could make sense. Thanks.